Decorating a Fallen Angel
by BlackDragon733
Summary: Endverse. Cas still has too much heart, even when the rest of the world is falling apart around him. Cas/OC, Implied Cas/Dean, Implied Cas/Basically the rest of camp. Mild violence and language.


**Another story that got away from me. I swear this was going to be shorter than the last one. Basically I saw the bracelet and thought, I wonder when he started wearing jewellery.**

**I don't own the characters or anything like that. You know the drill.**

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'Cas, you're looking more like a hippy every time I see you', Maggie laughed, tugging at the cheesecloth shirt he had just pulled on.

'I'm reliably informed there aren't enough labels to accurately capture my essence' Cas replied snidely, a smile pulling at the corners of his lips.

'Whoever told you that got it right. You're unique.' She stroked his beard with the back of her fingers before pulling his face down to hers to give him a kiss on the cheek. That was the only rule Cas established with anyone who came for a little fun at his cabin. Sex was great fun, it was nothing but two – or more – people giving each other something else to think about in these dark times. Kissing on the lips was a different matter, he found it caused people to believe there was something more and that wasn't what he was after.

Maggie had spent the night with him, there was a rescue mission leaving today which they were both a part of. She had been nervous and wanted a distraction; as usual Cas was up for anything. Now they were preparing to go out and get the weapons ready in the cars. He watched her face as she looked around the cabin for her jumper and so he saw the expression change, the subtle shift from teasing to a look of panic. She turned back to him, biting her lip and suddenly was smiling again, something mischievous in her eyes. He narrowed his eyes playfully, mouth quirking upwards.

'What?' He watched her reach around her neck and lift one of her dangling necklaces over her head and then waited, bemused, while she looped the red string of beads she had removed around his wrist.

'There, it suits you better. Just get a head band and you could be the poster boy for Flower Power.' She patted his arm teasingly as she walked past him, having spotted her missing sweatshirt. He chuckled and started to pull on the loose end dangling across his wrist.

'No, leave it on. Keep it…' She sounded like she wanted to say something else but stopped talking. Cas didn't push it and let his arms drop to his sides instead. After grabbing his coat, tucking his knife into his boot and tucking his gun into his belt he was ready to go.

It was a long drive but the time was passed amiably. Cas wasn't driving this time and he'd carefully chosen not to go with Dean so he was able to fish the small white bottle out of his pocket without the usual disapproving looks or arguments starting. Instead he enjoyed guilt free uppers while listening to the idle chatter. He sat in the back, Risa was driving, Maggie riding shotgun.

He considered Maggie, she had been at Camp Chitaqua almost 8 months and he had seen how she always tried to stay cheerful for everybody else's sake, even when their situation seemed hopeless. He admired the courage it took her to put on that air of cheerful innocence.

Risa took the opposite coping mechanism, she put on a stiff, guarded exterior and wouldn't properly let anyone in where Maggie could be chatty and open with anyone and everyone. This wasn't to say that Cas hadn't managed to distract Risa a time or two but around the camp he was regarded as basically the go to guy for stress relief. Cas didn't dispute this opinion, he wouldn't exactly argue if you suggested he had started the rumour either. But it wasn't all sex either, he had a well stocked supply cabinet and had become a good listener, once he had learnt that people didn't appreciate you telling them that their small, personal worries were meaningless in the grand scheme of things. Cas had rapidly had to learn many things.

Things weren't going well. They had managed to find a small group of uninfected people hiding in the town, who had reported that more were still sheltering somewhere in the centre. Unfortunately they had underestimated the population size and the whole area was swarming with its Croatoan ex-inhabitants. Their plan was shaky at best but Cas saw the set of Dean's mouth, his shoulders hunched. He knew the hunter was not going to leave until he had done everything he could to rescue everyone and he wouldn't let anyone change his mind. Cas also knew that if everyone else cried off, said it was too rash and refused to go, Dean would just barrel in there without backup.

Without a word he stepped to Dean's side. Risa narrowed her eyes at him and he smiled serenely back in response.

'You realise this is idiotic. You can't last 2 minutes. This is a doomed mission and you know it. Let's just get the ones we _have_ saved out of here,' Risa said to Dean angrily. Cas closed his eyes, wincing.

'No Risa, I'm not just gonna leave those poor sons of bitches to get torn apart by monsters because the rest of my team is too chickenshit to help them. Those people are trapped, helpless and we have guns and know what's going on, so I'm going to do what I can to get them out and if it kills me, well I'm gonna blow the brains out of some Croats on my way. And I'll know _I_ did what I could. So are any of you coming or not?' Dean glared at the small band opposite him.

When no one moved he pushed past them and grabbed a second gun. Then he turned and started to stride in the direction of the town centre, growling 'Come on, Cas' over his shoulder as he moved. Checking the spare ammo supply in his pockets, Cas followed after him as always. Shortly he heard sets of feet following after him, as they had known they would all along. What exactly would they be living for, after all?

The plan was as basic as looking for a weak opening in the 20 or 30 Croats currently swarming through the streets. They were definitely nearing the centre now, Cas and Dean walked next to each other, leading their small band. Cas tensed, looking at the corner in front of them and Dean obviously felt his movement because he immediately ducked to the side and tested the door handle of the house. It was unlocked, they usually were, so silently all 8 of them filed inside to wait until it was clear to continue on scouting out the buildings.

They took their chance and dashed towards the town hall building, guns pointing outwards. Cas brought up the rear of the group, keeping off the Croats who were lumbering towards them while whoever was at the front banged on the door to tell the refugees to let them in.

After they had pushed their way in past the barricade set up against the door they found themselves in a large hall littered with rubbish, bags and makeshift beds. A large group of people stood bunched in the corner, some brandishing guns - or more makeshift weapons - while the rest just looked scared and hid behind those who were armed.

'Whoa, whoa! We're not Croats, we're not infected!' Gary shouted, hands in the air, walking slowly forwards. The rest of the Chitaquans copied his gesture and slowly the townspeople lowered their weapons. They were a mixed group of men, women and children, ages ranging from about 15 to 60. The same thought passed through the minds of all the rescue team at the same time – there were too many civilians to easily create a safe guard around with only 8 of them, even if some of the crowd had their own guns.

Some of the rescue team had brought extra guns however; slung across their shoulders, tucked into boots, belts or holsters. Being too prepared was never possible these days, it seemed. After some discussion about their options they had settled on a plan. There would be 15 armed guards and the rest would be split into 2 groups, sneaking out in different directions and meeting back at the vans.

Unfortunately the Croats weren't completely brainless, they were predators. Their prey had walked into the building in the centre, effectively trapping themselves as they would have to come out sometime. The Croats were going to stay close until their quarry walked out the front door. The human's plan was to wait until nightfall to make their move, when the Croats didn't exactly sleep but became somewhat more sluggish.

Cas leant against the wall, ready to pass the time however anyone saw fit. Absently he reached into his pocket and the telltale rattle of a pharmacy bottle drew a sharp look from Dean. Cas raised an eyebrow at him playfully but when Dean's glare didn't lighten he slowly withdrew from the pocket and put both hands up in surrender.

After people had mostly come to the end of the discussion Risa yanked Dean to one side by the jacket, gesturing at the people and piles of belongings around the room as she did so.

'Dean, what have you done? We are in way over our heads.' She snarled. Dean met her gaze steadily.

'We're here now, so we're just going to have to buckle down, do the best we can.'

'We should never have come in here. There is no way this could not end in disaster. I told you we should have left it alone, let nature run its course.'

'Nature? You call this natural?'

'It is now, whether we like it or not. When are you going to stop with this suicide mission and accept that you can't save everyone in trouble?'

Dean refused to look away but he didn't rise to her baiting. 'We'll need to carry as little as possible, organise a pattern of defence and make sure these people know that they are going to do whatever we tell them. We are not,' He cut Risa off as she tried to speak over him, 'discussing this now.' He pointedly turned away to start talking to those townspeople who had their own weapons, ending their discussion. Risa turned after him to see Cas had been watching the exchange. She shook her head warningly and walked in the opposite direction.

A few hours, several games of cards and lots of stories later the sun had fallen below the horizon. Dean announced from his position by the window that movements outside were slowing, their predators were beginning to drift, losing interest. This was the time to make their move. They had spent some time deciding who to arm and making sure they knew the basics of using their weapon. When everyone was about as happy as they could be with their part the groups divided and went to the two doors out of the building, one on the West and one on the South side.

Dean and Cas were covering the front and back of one group. Judging by the death glares Risa was shooting at Dean and the words she kept hissing at him under her breath whenever they got close, it would not have been wise to put them together so she and Gary would be leading the other half.

Dean cautiously stepped out into the quiet alley first, checking it was clear and then motioned for the rest to follow. Once outside the few of them with guns took their assigned positions around the main group. Carefully they began to make their way along the street, out of the centre of town.

They had made it a couple of streets along when they saw a shape moving in the shadows ahead. Dean tried to stop so he could signal that they cross to the other side of the street but someone in the middle of the group stumbled over the person stopping in front of them and let out a muffled cry. It was enough.

A feral snarl sounded clearly from the shadows and the shape began to creep towards them. Dean shot it and before it had even crumpled to the ground he was motioning for them to run past it to the next corner. The shot would attract others but now they had a moment to get away from this area.

Running round the next corner they found themselves on a narrow street with no roads leading off it. Cas instinctively tensed at their confined position but Dean carried on and they had to follow at a fast pace. They were halfway along when the worst happened - a scuffle noise at the other end of the street and something was coming around the building ahead.

'Go!' 'This way!' 'Come on!' Dean, Cas and a few other voices shouted at the same time and the troupe turned to start running back the way they had come, towards a group of hunched, ragged figures gathered around the body of their fallen kin. Cas skidded to a halt and, looking over his shoulder at Dean, lifted his gun to take aim.

He took down two of the Croats before they even started moving towards the group and his third kill fell at the front, taking down another one that tripped over it. He was aware of shouting happening behind him but took no notice until a hand yanked at his shoulder. Glancing over he saw the refugees had started moving back in the other direction again and when he took in the scene beyond them he realised that the figures he could see at the other end of the street were those of Risa and her team. Backing up rapidly to follow the group he kept his gun firing into the advancing Croats, the members of the guard to either side of him also shooting them down.

When they had rejoined the rest at the other end of the street a very terse exchange had them deciding it would still be best to split in opposite directions and to do so fast. Five or six Croats were still walking after them up the alley and more would be moving in towards the sound of guns and action.

'Watch yourselves.'

'Good luck.'

And they jogged further up the path until, with some direction from the townspeople, Dean's group went straight ahead and Risa's turned off at the next junction.

They heard gunfire from the other party before they ran into their own trouble again. This time they found themselves not far from the vans but with Croats approaching on three sides and a wall behind them. They started firing, concentrating on the side with the fewest creatures, trying to punch a way through. They were being pressed into the wall at their backs but they began to see a possible break in the mass advancing on them.

'Dean! We've got to go _now_.' Cas shouted at the man currently shooting as the crowd rapidly closed the space between them.

'Then move.' He got in reply, and Dean showed that he had got the message by beginning to usher the civilians towards the gap being opened for them. Cas didn't need any more than that and turned to lead their way out.

As he headed for the alley that was now clear he saw out of the corner of his eye a couple of fast approaching Croats to the left. He reached for the arm of the person next to him in the guard, pushing them to neatly swap places with him in leading the charge out of their corner. Then he turned and raised his gun again. One shot, the first was down. Second shot, the barrel clicked hollowly. Without blinking Cas bent to reach for his knife and came up swinging, catching the second Croat efficiently across the throat.

Only as he twisted to check that the rest of their group had got past did he feel pain and realise that he hadn't been the only one with a knife. A jagged cut ran across his right shoulder blade, it didn't seem too bad but he had been known to underestimate his wounds before. He ran to take his place back in the guard around the main group, it proved challenging since they were now running full speed from the Croats they had just narrowly escaped.

Clicking a new cartridge into his gun, Cas realised that because of the children or weaker members of their group were running considerably slower than the monsters behind them. He had a brief moment to consider their next plan of action when suddenly the options disappeared and he had to react. Someone in their group had stumbled, falling past Cas into the path of the bloodthirsty animals. Unquestioningly Cas skidded to a halt and turned back to their pursuers, vaguely aware that others had done the same.

He stepped forwards to help the boy on the floor to his feet when something yanked hard on the back of his jacket and spun him around. He saw Maggie facing him unwaveringly. He made to move forwards again, confused but she flicked an arm angrily.

'Go Cas. You don't need to do this.' A couple of the townspeople had also turned back with them and they were now trying to help the boy up, the Croats only a hundred yards away. Then the boy was being thrust towards him, the townspeople turning to fire while also trying to run. It was a hopeless situation, the creatures were almost on them.

'Cas! We don't need you here.' Maggie shouted through his indecisive haze. They were running backwards, side by side, shielding the boy behind them who was hopefully closing in on the group. Maggie turned to look at the fallen angel then, a quick glance that showed him all of her determination. '_He_ needs you.'

Then she slowed to a stop and started firing seriously. The other selfless townspeople were between her and the Croats, Cas saw her plan and barely managed a strangled 'Maggie!' when the creatures closed around the three of them. Cas was running in the other direction. Reaching the end of that street he saw where they were and realised he was in sight of the vans. Behind him he heard gunshots continue for a couple more seconds before the noise was replaced only with snarling and fighting between the mass of monsters.

Dean caught Cas' eye as he ran up to them. With a questioning brow he shifted his gaze to focus behind his friend and back, silently asking after the others. Cas shook his head mutely, mouth set in a hard, emotionless line. The civilians were filtering into the three vans they had brought with them. Having been unaware of the number of people sheltering in the town it was going to be a tight fit but they would manage.

They had time to catch their breath while they waited by the vehicles for the second half of their party to arrive because the Croats that had been after the first group, like a pack of wolves, would mill around after a kill and their thirst for blood would be temporarily satiated until they caught sight of more prey. Dean eyed Cas cautiously but he refused to acknowledge the hunter, instead staring in the direction they expected to see Risa's party appearing from. The gunfire had stopped a short while ago from that direction and they stood with bated breath, unsure of what might have happened.

When they did see figures appearing the scene was not good. Two were being held up on the shoulders of others and the group was noticeably diminished. Cas, Dean and a couple of the others who hadn't jumped into the vans started running to help them. It was only when Cas bent to get under the other arm of one of the badly injured people that he noticed the painful burn across his own shoulder. Putting it out of his mind they walked across to the 4x4s and helped people climb in. Without wasting any time everyone was soon in. Tyres squealed, rubble flew from up behind them and pedals were stamped to the floor in order to let them put this place behind them as fast as possible.

It turned out the second group had found themselves in a similar situation, trapped after a wrong turn. It had been a brief fight, some people had been killed, others infected and it had been a desperate struggle to get out anyone at all.

After an almost silent journey they arrived at the camp and began escorting people firstly into the medical cabin to be treated for their injuries and checked for signs of infection. Cas walked into one of the supply areas, looking for some bandage and planning on staying out of everybody's way, he had enough practise patching himself up. He heard the door open as Risa walked in. She had also been caught by a Croatoan knife, the side of her shirt ripped open and a bloody cloth pressed over the wound.

She gave him a cursory glance as he filled the sink with water but said nothing, until Dean walked in. Then her face twisted into a mask of fury. She marched across the room to him and slapped Dean sharply across the face.

'Gary. Maggie. David. Plus 7 of the people we were _supposed_ to be rescuing and a camp full of injuries. Tell me Dean, was it worth it?' She raged.

'Well I count a whole lot more people safe in camp now. Half of them already know how to use guns and there's still camp full of healthy people perfectly capable of doing supply runs.' Dean's shoulders stiffened as he answered her back.

'This isn't just a numbers game, Dean! We lost good friends today because of you recklessly diving in, guns blazing and no actual plan. When did you stop caring about the actual people here?'

'Whether I care or not isn't the issue. The world has changed and we have to get used to it. Adapt. I'm just doing what I can keep as many people alive from one day to the next. And guess what, sometimes not everyone makes it.' Coming up behind her, Cas held Risa's wrist, just as he felt it moving again. Ripping it from his grasp she turned on him instead.

'Oh great, take his side. There's a surprise…'

'I'm not on anyone's side.' He told her levelly. 'I see friends who are dead, people who have been saved. This is a world of crap and whatever we do, something is going to go to hell. Why bother yelling at each other. I can think of much better ways to expend our energies.' Without thinking he slipped into his carefully constructed carefree façade. As usual it threw Risa off her stride and she gaped at him.

Abruptly she turned on her heel, grabbed the pile of bandages Cas had already gathered and strode out, not quite slamming the door but giving the impression she wanted to. Dean breathed out a humourless laugh.

'I think you're in there, Cas.'

Cas' only reply was a scathing sideways glance beneath drawn brows and turned back to the sink, pulling his shirt over his head one handed. He reached for the cloth to find Dean taking it from his hand and silently turning Cas to get better access at his shoulder.

This time Dean said nothing as Cas fished in his pocket and tossed a handful of pills back. This time Dean had nothing to say. It was only as he was placing the bandage - surprisingly gently - across Cas' shoulder that he spoke. 'Are you ok?' Cas looked down at his hands and with a start noticed the red beaded bracelet adorning his wrist. He fiddled with the dangling end.

'Pain's almost gone. Nothing a little absinthe won't cover.' He evaded. They both knew Dean wasn't talking about his shoulder.

'Cas,' he chided.

'Dean.'

The bandage was taped in place and Cas stood up, reaching for his shirt again. 'I'm fine.' He said, not looking at Dean. Then he stepped towards the door. Just as he was stepping through and pulling it behind him he heard Dean's voice where he hadn't moved from the bench in the middle of the room.

'I'm sorry.'

Cas paused, turning his head slightly over his shoulder but he didn't meet Dean's eyes. Then he closed the door and walked back to his cabin. He put his left hand over the beads on his wrist, moving along them like a set of prayer beads, despite chuckling grimly at the very idea.

In the following days he found himself absently fiddling with the beads whenever he thought about the struggles they had faced or the friends he had lost. The rest of the camp slowly got used to the image of the red beads dangling from his cuff. He never did take that bracelet off.


End file.
